My 40 Hour Famine Experience

By -







My 40 Hour Famine Experience

Friday afternoon saw me piling my possessions on the floor of my bedroom and pulling sleeping bags out from the cupboard as I prepared to give up furniture for 40 hours. In a previous year’s 40 hour famine I had given up my lovely queen sized bed, but this year I upped the ante by deciding to give up all furniture!































I defined furniture as 'movable articles that are used to make a room or building suitable for living in e.g. tables, chairs and desks’, but this did not include home accessories such as pillows and blankets. So for 40 hours I had to sleep and sit on the floor, not use any tables or desks, and any clothes or other items that are usually stored in drawers or on shelves I had to relocate to the floor.
Image result for no couch sign Image result for 40 hour famine 2019

It begins…


I returned from karate training at around half past eight on Friday 7th of June (I had been out when the famine started) and when usually I would flop on my bed, exhausted, I instead plonked onto the floor. Later in the evening when I came to sleeping I arranged my “bed”, a sleeping bag on the floor with an extra sleeping bag and blanket underneath for meager padding. I won't pretend it was a comfortable night. I am lucky that I was quite tired, otherwise drifting off might have been a lot more difficult. Then when I woke on Saturday morning, my body aching, not feeling rested at all, I was just glad that I had carpet; how much more sore would I be sleeping on floorboards? Well, they do say that sleeping on a hard surface is good for your back - though it doesn’t feel like it!

Saturday was as per usual, except that rather than sitting on my bed or at my desk I sat on the floor, doing homework and reading. I ate dinner sitting on the floor, with my parents sitting at the table above me. It was a bit awkward having to bend over my plate and not drop food on the floor, especially considering I was eating a homemade burger, which fillings have a tendency to fall out of on the best of days.

My second night’s sleep was better than the first because I wasn’t aching as much in the morning as the previous day. Maybe I was getting used to it. I went about the morning using my items from on the floor, and noon soon came around and I was able to put my room back to its original state and rest comfortably on my bed. 

 As you can tell, the 40 hours were not the most comfortable of my life, but I’d readily go through the “suffering” again to do more to help the refugee children of South Sudan. The money that I raised will supply children in need with nutritious food, clean water, education, and be invested into their communities so that they have a future. I am so glad I could help and I think that everyone who can should get involved next year.


- Eva Wadsworth

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Captivating Holiday Reads!

By Anonymous -
Nothing to read these holidays? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. Here is a list of highly recommended reads compiled by members of the MAGS Blog Club! Alex Rider series - Anthony Horowitz Dear Vincent - Mandy Hager Everyday - David Levithan  Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury Far From the Tree - Robin Benway Hive - AJ Betts Lists of Note - compiled by Shaun Usher Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng Matched - Ally Condie Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend - Mathew Green Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs Moonrise - Sarah Crossan  Mortal Fire - Elizabeth Knox My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece - Annabel Pitcher Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro Northern Lights - Philip Pullman Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman Paper Towns - John Green She is Not Invisible - Marcus Sedgwick Starters - Lissa Price (and sequel Enders)  The Book Thief - Markus Zusak The Curious Incid
Read more

French Exchange 2019

By Anonymous -
On the morning of Saturday 15th June, more than 20 anxious MAGS students rolled up at Auckland International Airport to meet their French exchange students for the first time. Families got to know each other in the hour long wait for the kids to emerge with French teacher, Madame Olive. There was a flurry of excitement and a jumble of "will I recognise her?" and "is that them?!" as the wait grew longer and nerves escalated. Eventually a bunch of familiar faces rounded the corner, and students and their families awkwardly met their new house guests for the next five weeks. The French kids spent three weeks at school with their students, following them around classes and making new friends. They got the chance to practise their English skills and learn different subjects, even though in France it is the Summer holidays! After the three weeks of work, the real fun began! MAGS students took their kids on road trips throughout the country, visiting places such as Taupo,
Read more

Little Ways to be Eco Friendly

By -
Sustainability. Environmental awareness. Some people would call these fads, but climate change is not going to be short lived. Unless we take action. Nowadays there is lots of talk about how to save our earth. Friends talk about it, family talks about it, people post about it on social media. ‘I spent the weekend doing volunteer tree planting’, ‘I joined a stream clean up’, ‘I’m going vegan, long term’, ‘I donated to a wildlife rescue organisation’. It’s easy to feel guilty that you aren’t doing all of these things too, but the reality is they involve time, money, effort and organisational skills. Don’t worry! You don’t have to be extreme. As an individual there are innumerable ways that you can play your part in being sustainable and preventing damage to the earth. And they don’t have to be expensive or grand, just simple changes that will reduce your carbon footprint and help you have a positive effect on the world. So many products include plastic these days. Excessive pa
Read more